Skeptics Café

ACCC Consumer Express: October

This month’s topics include:

• Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Country of origin advertising
• Internet auctions: consumers beware
• Work at home but don’t get scammed
• “TV star’s amazing confession“
• Agents get real! A look at real estate advertising
• Chain letters: David Rhodes hits again
• Consumers’ online rights
• Misleading claims attract attention: misleading claims about magnetic therapy
• News releases for September
• New ACCC publications

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/474307/fromItemId/3737 or email express@accc.gov.au to subscribe.

People who practise the controversial recovered-memory therapy may soon have to be registered by a professional board, amid concerns that some are unqualified and could cause harm. http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Memory-therapy-state-launches-probe/2004/11/22/1100972326650.html

The Australian False Memory Association say the therapy is “dangerous, unscientific, and just destroys families“. http://www.afma.asn.au/

During the recent federal elections, new political party “Family First” claimed it was a media overreaction to label their party “fundamentalist Christian” merely because some of their candidates came from religious groups such as “Catch the Fire“. However now the Family First chairman has released a statement saying he thinks the literal Biblical creation story should receive equal time in school classrooms with evolution.(Creationism) Other Christians have since written in to reject this idea. One wonders whether he’d be happy to give equal time to other “theories” such as the Four Elements, Flat Earth, Phlogiston, non-Christian creation stories and Santa Claus.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Creation-theory-gets-boost/2004/11/17/1100574537582.html

TV: Sensing Murder (News.com.au 25/9/2004)

Police have rejected its claims to have unearthed new clues in the murder, including sightings of a light-coloured sedan and a photofit image of a man believed to have information about the attack.

Asked whether the show’s findings were useful to investigators, Victoria Police spokeswoman Sergeant Creina O’Grady said: “No. The Homicide Squad deals in factual evidence not psychic.“

(Excerpt from http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10877229%255E2862,00.html )

“Sensing Murder” is based on a Swedish Tv show which also failed to deliver any results: http://www.randi.org/jr/112103.html (search on ‘Sensing Murder‘)

See also Sensing Murder.

“Dinosaurs from China”

In part sponsored by the Australian Skeptics this impressive exhibition of dinosaurs and their progressive evolution into birds runs from 19 November 2004 to 17 April 2005 in the Melbourne Museum. “After visiting the Chinese Dinosaurs exhibition people will fully appreciate that dinosaurs are not extinct… they’re alive and well, and singing in your back yard.” (Prof Archer, past Director of the Australian Museum)

 From China comes an exhibition of massive proportions.
 One of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons ever
 to tour Australia is about to take over Melbourne Museum
 including giant skeletons, rare fossils and new discoveries
 such as amazing feathered dinosaurs as well as a fantastic
 programme of children's activities.
 Adult $16; Child $6; Concession $8; Family $36
 (also includes entry to Melbourne Museum and a free ticket
 redeemable until 10 July 2005)

This is a singularly appropriate sponsorship for the Skeptics, as one of our principal concerns has always been to counter the influence of religious fundamentalists on our education system and particularly on the teaching of science. These ‘Young Earth Creationists‘, in endeavouring to keep their followers in ignorance of the evidence that really exists to underpin scientific theories of the evolution of species (and much else) have put up perennial strawman arguments along the lines of “There is no example of one species changing into another species” and equally fatuous questions such as, “Of what use is half a wing?“

Such propositions have never been scientifically valid ones, but they have had a superficial plausibility for the unsophisticated followers of this anti-scientific cult. The dinosaur specimens sponsored by the Skeptics in this exhibition, showing different transitional species on the road from reptile to bird, will serve to graphically expose such creationist rhetoric for the specious nonsense it always has been. (See Creationism Articles)

• (Photo1: Model of Sinosauropteryx prima made by Alan Groves working with palaeontologists Drs Walter Boles and Sue Hand.)
• (Photo2: Model of Sinornithosaurus smillenii made by Alan Groves working with palaeontologists Drs Walter Boles and Sue Hand.)

For more details about the Melbourne Museum see http://www.museum.vic.gov.au

For more information

• Australian Museum Chinese Dinosaurs Site
  • http://www.amonline.net.au/chinese_dinosaurs/
• Melbourne Museum’s “Coming Soon“
  • http://melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au/exhibitions/exh_touring_soon.asp?ID=561503
• Background story (with photos) – Association of Australasian Palaeontologists
  • http://www.es.mq.edu.au/mucep/aap/nomennudum/issues/28/chinosaurs.htm
• The Science Show (RN) (2002)
  • http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s720938.htm

The Victorian Skeptics are very proud to be a major sponsor for the 2004 STAV Science Talent Search. (Prep-12) We look forward to meeting many of the winners at the upcoming awards day and intend to display photographs from the event as well as a list of sponsored winners on this site.

Unfortunately the anticipated Melbourne visit by “The Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait in November will not be taking place. He will however be speaking in Sydney at the Australian Skeptics Convention. For more information see http://www.users.on.net/~ct/skeptic/nsw/convention.htm

This year’s Australian Skeptics National Convention is titled “Beyond a Joke” and is being held in Sydney. It will run from 12th-14th November.

“This year’s convention will be a mix of Scepticism and belly laughs with top line comedians adding their own insights into the world of the paranormal.“

Please visit the URL below for more information http://www.users.on.net/~ct/skeptic/nsw/convention.htm

Skeptics Conference